Tartaglione Rises to Defeat ‘Paycheck Protection’ in Senate

OnOctober 15, 2014

HARRISBURG, Oct. 15, 2014 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today helped to quash a backdoor attempt to weaken unions by joining a bipartisan push to defeat an amendment that would have prohibited employers from automatically deducting membership dues from a worker’s paycheck.

Called “paycheck protection” by proponents, Tartaglione said the proposal, introduced by Sen. Scott Wagner (R-York) as an amendment to a bill designed to help children with food allergies, was not democratic.

“The only thing Sen. Wagner’s amendment would do is eliminate unions’ abilities to choose who they want to represent them in government,” Tartaglione said. “It would eliminate the voices of the men and women who work hard day-in and day-out to put food on the table for their families, just because they belong to a union.

“Union members can already decide whether or not they want to contribute to union political spending. The law protects them if they choose not to contribute. And, she said, for every hour worked by a teacher, the money they earn for that work is no longer the state’s money; it is the employee’s.

“So, I ask you: why do we call this measure ‘paycheck protection?’” she said on the Senate floor.

Tartaglione added that voting in favor of the Wagner amendment would have handed control of the commonwealth to corporations “and their one-sided political agendas.”

The Senate voted 28 to 20 to defeat the freshman Republican’s proposal.